Rattle wrote:

] Who? What is the string you are holding on to in order to
] keep calling this commercial speech..

Apparently there was something in their timeline about a consulting position at a competitor. However, it was dated in 2004, so its not clear what the nature of the relationship is and when it began, or even if it exists or if its a joke.

] ] It is this harm, coupled with the safety of these
] ] academic institutions and their constituents (primarily,
] ] students and faculty) that mandated Blackboard take a
] ] very careful and measured stance. Recognizing that
] ] this is a crime with potentially very harmful results,
] ] we took a position to protect our clients.
]
] Careful and measured, eh?

So, was the section of your complaint that intentionally confused computer source code with long distance access codes the careful part, or the measured part?

] ] Blackboard recognizes that the Hacker Community plays
] ] an integral role in assisting technology companies in
] ] improving their offerings, most notably around security.
] ] I thought the user community might find this
] ] clarification of value.

Backpedal, Backpedal, Backpedal, as fast as we can. Gosh we didn't think anyone cared about that silly little amendment.

RE: politechbot.com: Blackboard responds to criticism of Interz0ne lawsuit

] From: David Yaskin [dyaskin@BLACKBOARD.COM]
] Subject: Re: very troubling behavior by Blackboard Inc.

] At issue were the actions of a person working for a
] competitor who committed a physical crime and put
] many nonprofit academic institutions in potential
] jeopardy. Without going into too much detail,
] working for a competitor, an individual
] physically broke into hardware components belonging
] to a university solely to publicly distribute
] information that could enable a select group to
] falsify security events and financial transactions,
] putting the general public and approximately 275
] academic institutions in potential jeopardy.

Who? What is the string you are holding on to in order to keep calling this commercial speech..

] It is this harm, coupled with the safety of these
] academic institutions and their constituents (primarily,
] students and faculty) that mandated Blackboard take a
] very careful and measured stance. Recognizing that
] this is a crime with potentially very harmful results,
] we took a position to protect our clients.

Careful and measured, eh?

] Blackboard recognizes that the Hacker Community plays
] an integral role in assisting technology companies in
] improving their offerings, most notably around security.
] I thought the user community might find this
] clarification of value.

Hmm.. Would you care to extend that "clarification of value" to sections 5, 7, 9, 10, and 16 of the legal complaint? If you do infact believe the Hacker Community (thanks for the caps Dave) plays an integral role in assisting technology companies in improving their offerings, you may not want to play a role in forcing it underground.

politechbot.com: Blackboard responds to criticism of Interz0ne lawsuit

] Two computer hackers admitted in a settlement Monday that
] they never completed a device that could cheat university
] campus debit card systems out of food, laundry machine
] use or sports tickets.

Spin Spin Spin...

More on this in a minute...

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: BlackBoard press release

Now here is the challenge to you, how about writing an article which
addresses the facts.

Snagged from the SE2600 mailing list.

Harvard Crimson | Swipe Card Hack Prompts Complaint

You know there is a problem when an HP VP in Israel tells you about something funny they read on Memestreams.

Yes its nice that I can complain (loudly) about a certain firm's software and get a phone call from the product manager less than 24 hours later asking how to make it better.

But it sucks when a motley collection of idle thoughts and rants is read, with seriousness no less, by people of means and influence. And then people ask me about it in meetings. Talk about odd. Silly people, my blog isn't like some other blogs in the security space (ala a mouthpiece for a company or to drive a consulting biz). Its just what it is, and what it is is most certainly not a catalyst for work place discussion or an indication of policy.

[sigh] I was quite happy without Acidus == Billy Hoffman being public knowledge. It was that way for 6+ years. Of course then Blackboard went and blew that out of the water. If only I would publish under another name.

Or maybe I already have ;-) No, I'm not that clever. Or maybe!?!.... nope, nada.

The multimedia or personal stuff that professors may think of as flashy filler is getting students to make an emotional investment in their education. "Sure, the content they offer is not as good as if a faculty member produced it. The content expert is always going to be better at creating the content, but that's not the point," said Knauff.

Some see the advent of Web 2.0-style tools in the classroom heralding a shift in everything from education theory to how schools are built. The bottom line: traditional lecturing may be on its way out, said Claire Schooley, an analyst at Forrester Research who follows learning trends at universities and corporations.

Seton Hall University uses social tools as a way to hook students even before they have officially started. A log-in is mailed to new students along with the acceptance materials, according to Jan Day, senior director of client engagement at Blackboard, an educational software company that worked with the university to implement the site.

"It's one thing to look at a discussion board, wikis and blogs. It's something else completely different to physically act in a 3D environment with others in your class. There is increased engagement and feelings of identity," said Jarrett.

"Just like with hybrids and the car industry a few years ago, I need to start building that car because if I wait three years, I'll miss that curve," Hartman said. "I'm building it now as a prototype, but I don't expect to take it out and race it."

This is me trolling Billy... :)

Blackboard, the big Web 2.0 app on campus | CNET News.com

Another anonymous reader writes with a link to the Inside Higher Education site. Those folks are reporting on Blackboard's 'pledge' not to sue open source projects used by universities and colleges. The Blackboard patent on educational groupware filed last year has come under a lot of fire, with many organizations simply seeking an open-source alternative. This newest peace offering to higher education groups has the Sakai open source consortium more than a little bit nervous. If Blackboard meant to set people at ease, all it has managed to do was confirm to onlookers that it 'wants to keep its legal options open.' Blackboard insists that this new pledge affords universities a number of legal privileges, and is designed to make educators 'sleep easy at night.' Somehow, very few people seem reassured.

We don't like Blackboard here. They sued Acidus and Virgil a few years ago because of security research they were doing on Blackboard's products.

Slashdot | Blackboard's 'Pledge' Not to Sue Open Source Software

] Last Friday, educational software provider Blackboard
] (Nasdaq: BBBB) had the second-most successful technology
] IPO this year, rising 43% on its first day of trading.

Damn it, we forgot to bash them on our show. The Enemy.

Fool.com: Blackboard's Screeching IPO [Motley Fool Take] June 24, 2004

] In the interest of fair play, you might point out that you are
] friends with the guy

In the Interest of fair play, I should point out that inignoct, Rattle, ryan, Elonka and others had no idea who I was at the time, and many still haven't met me. The only Memestreamer who knew me was Decius, who I met at the conference. I won't pollute my ego and think I can cause so many people to react to something a certain way. I think the numbers of people who reacted to what BB did and the strength at which did they speaks more about what occured then I could.

] BTW, I'm a former Blackboard employee. Worked there four
] years. Am I proud of everything Blackboard has done over the
] years? Nope. But it's a good company populated with plenty of
] decent free-thinking people. Particularly the techies, some of
] the most fiercely independent and idealistic folks I've ever
] met, and a group with whom your hacker friend would probably
] fit right in.

I concur you shouldn't fault the whole company. I'm sure there are cool folks there. However the executives, not Bill the Engineer or Sally in accounting made the choices on how to react, and executives have the most to gain from an IPO. For that reason I hope it fails. The lawsuit changed me very much: certain beliefs I've always had about motives and conduct were completely destroyed. After several talks with BB executives, I still cannot fathom these people's greed. It and it alone drives their actions, and that utterly sickens me. A failed IPO would deny they what they want, because believe me, they care nothing about Sally or Bill.

RE: Blackboard Looks Likely To Go Public

There were a few interesting [yet unrelated] side-facts about the case that prevented it from being as cut and dry as it needs to be for the media to take the side of the evil hackers and see it as a suppression of speech.

Rattle wrote:
] I'm still quite frustrated that this did not get more
] attention when it happened. It was a clear case of a company
] using the law to suppress speech, and it went off without a
] hitch..
]
] ] In the end, Blackboard was able to use the law to ban two
] ] students from speaking at a conference, conducting
] ] security research and publicly criticizing its product.
] ] As long as such efforts prove effective, other
] ] individuals and corporations will continue to misuse the
] ] law in order to censor speech and other legitimate
] ] activities. Those concerned with chilling effects should
] ] take note.

RE: Chilling Effects Analysis of the Blackboard Case